Wilwood Brakes

[Widows Son]

I am interested in upgrading my #1185 to Wilwood brakes but have a few questions that you might be able to help with (Jay, feel free to jump in).

• What model and size are the front and back brake kits from Backdraft?
• I have 18" wheels so am i better off getting bigger rotor size brakes assuming the version from Backdraft are more fit-for-all rather than fit-for-purpose in terms of wheel size fitment? I suppose it may depend on my next question...
• For a Backdraft, are the rotor size and caliper mounts all the same irrespective of the size of the wheel? In other words, although my larger wheel will allow a larger rotor, the caliper mount is offset to only fit a certain size rotor?

BTW: This is not intended for track yet - I'd like the option to do so some day, but for now, just street use. Thanks for the help.

[Mark Brye]

Not sure if this helps or not, but there is a parts list of the Front and Rear BBK kit on the Wilwood web site.

Here is the front: http://www.wilwood.com/PDF/DataSheets/ds686.pdf

The rear is ds684.

[Widows Son]

Originally Posted by Mark Brye

Not sure if this helps or not, but there is a parts list of the Front and Rear BBK kit on the Wilwood web site.

Here is the front: http://www.wilwood.com/PDF/DataSheets/ds686.pdf

The rear is ds684.

Thanks this was helpful...and now confusing. After posting my query, I went back to the Wildwood site and found these for the front which were aimed at Backdraft:

http://www.wilwood.com/PDF/DataSheets/ds687.pdf

The version you provided (DS686) was for 13" rotors while other BDraft rotors (DS687) are 14"...seems Wilwood makes 2 rotor size versions of front brakes for Back draft...

So is the kit sold by Backdraft the DS686 / 13" rotor?

[Mark Brye]

I ordered the Backdraft kit from BDR for my Backdraft BDR#354. It came with the 686 and 684. Maybe the other kit is for newer cars or something.

If I would have ordered the kit from Summit I could have saved some money, but I probably would have not got much help from BDR if I had installation issues. But, they installed with no issues.

[Widows Son]

I decided to order and install the Wilwood 14" front rotor kit - designed for the Backdraft but not part of Backdraft's Wilwood front/rear conversion kit. They still provide on the 13" rotors for the front. Rear kit remains the same. You will need the larger 18" wheels however for the 14" rotors. Install was not that hard - it just took me the weekend about 3-4 hours per rotor/caliper including bleeding...oh yes, bleeding...Boy do I hate the stock rigid tubing and flared fitting - it took a lot of cuss'n to get the front hose to rigid done.

Here is the link to the pictures of the assembly. You will also see the comparison of the rotors as compared to the originals...Those 14" rotors are monsters.

http://narasimhalu.smugmug.com/Machi...ckdraft-Brakes

Contact me and I can send you the Word doc with all the part numbers and built-in hyperlinks to the Wilwood site and datasheets.

[Cashburn]

Just caught this thread. Wow, great work. Those brakes make you kiss the steering wheel yet?

[Widows Son]

Originally Posted by Cashburn

Just caught this thread. Wow, great work. Those brakes make you kiss the steering wheel yet?

Thanks to you Jay, the BDR had a 4-point harness to save my teeth.

[Mark Brye]

Nice Job!

Note for others: on the older BDR's, the rear pin drive hub goes on the outside of the new rotor had. On later cars they go on the inside. Took me a while to figure that out when I installed mine.

[D111]

Originally Posted by Widows Son

Thanks to you Jay, the BDR had a 4-point harness to save my teeth.

So how does the new Willoods compare to the stock setup? Looks fantastic. Can't imagine having Even more braking power than stock.

[jualwatt]

Originally Posted by D111

So how does the new Willoods compare to the stock setup? Looks fantastic. Can't imagine having Even more braking power than stock.

I was thinking the same thing. I did have to panic stop once and boy did it stop quickly with stock brakes and drag radials. However, I do not think I would want to track the car with a stock brake system unless taking it easy as the big difference should show up in brake fading due to heat build up.

Julian

[cbreez]

Originally Posted by jualwatt

I was thinking the same thing. I did have to panic stop once and boy did it stop quickly with stock brakes and drag radials. However, I do not think I would want to track the car with a stock brake system unless taking it easy as the big difference should show up in brake fading due to heat build up.

Julian

I have tracked my car hard several events at Sebring with 30 minute runs and the stock bmw brakes are just fine. Keep in mind these cars are light. That's one of the few things that hasn't been a surprise on these cars.

[itstock]

I was going to chime in and ask what the difference is. There is not enough traction for hard braking on the street as it is, so it's tough to think of a valid reason to upgrade (other than looks).

It's also good to hear that the stock brakes work okay for track days.

[mln385]

Originally Posted by cbreez

I have tracked my car hard several events at Sebring with 30 minute runs and the stock bmw brakes are just fine. Keep in mind these cars are light. That's one of the few things that hasn't been a surprise on these cars.

This says allot right there,Sebring is a track that eats brakes quick! I have had my mustang on it and blew through a set no problem.

[jualwatt]

Originally Posted by cbreez

I have tracked my car hard several events at Sebring with 30 minute runs and the stock bmw brakes are just fine. Keep in mind these cars are light. That's one of the few things that hasn't been a surprise on these cars.

cbreez,

Great to know. I appreciate the feedback as it was a concern if I was to try the car on the track, but I will most likely try them first now and only upgrade if I feel there are any issues.

Julian